An Honest Mistake

Alice double-checked the words on her spelling test. If she got 100 percent today, she’d win her class’s First-Quarter Spelling Challenge and a brand-new dictionary that came with videos and other cool stuff. Plus, Lisa had promised to do a handstand if anyone got a perfect score.

Three more words to go. n-i-c-e-l-y. q-u-i-c-k-l-y. h-o-n-s-t-y. Wait! She’d spelled “honesty”, not “honestly”! She hurriedly erased the t-y and wrote l-y before handing in her paper.

“I’ll correct and grade these test papers at the break”, said Lisa. Alice hurried into the classroom. She sat restlessly in her seat with her fingers crossed. Then Lisa walked to the front of the room and cleared her throat.

“Congratulations, Alice! You did it!” she announced. The whole class burst into applause! Lisa presented Alice with her prize. Alice grinned(咧嘴笑) as she read the label on the box: To Alice Carter, for her perfect first -quarter score in spelling.

“Is everything OK?” Mom asked as Alice burst through the front door after school. “Everything is perfect!” Alice shouted, showing Mom her spelling test paper and prize. Mom hugged her. “Put the test on the fridge so Dad can see it when he get home. And Casper, too. ” Alice scooped (抱起) up her cat. “Casper, can you spell nicely, quickly and honestly?” Alice’s heart missed a beat suddenly. “Honestly?” H-O-N-E-S-L-Y!

“Alice, what’s the matter?” said Mom. “I don’t feel so good,” Alice said, putting Casper down and stuffing the test paper into her backpack. “Probably too much excitement.” Mom rubbed her back. “How about some tea?” Alice swallowed, “How did you know? A “t” is exactly what I needed.

Shortly afterwards, Alice dashed into her room and pulled out the test paper.

Alice pushed open the door of Lisa’s office.

Matt, a boy with impulse-control (克制冲动) and anger management issues, has just entered my class last week. He had been in so much trouble through the years. As a first-year teacher, I was shocked when he stood up suddenly during my class and pushed his deskmate Sam hard when they were arguing over one question.

Later that day, as a punishment, he was suspended (暂停) from lunch break and would have to have lunch alone in the classroom for two weeks. Mat had to earn his lunch break back by proving he could be respectful to others. If he was “good” each day during this period, he'd earn it back. If he wasn't, the process of punishment would restart. Lunch break was very important for students since it was one of the few occasions during the school day when students enjoyed less structure and some time to socialize. Therefore, the punishment was huge for this boy. On the first day, Mat ate quietly and didn't speak much to me. On the third day, however, he began talking.

“Listen,” he said. “I'm sorry about ruining your class. I tried to convince Sam that my way to solve the math problem was much better, but he turned a deaf ear to me and said I was too proud.” “I get it, but you can't push others to accept your way.” I said.

Over the next few days, Matt remained silent most of the time. He would do his homework while he ate. I tried my best to connect and communicate with him, and even had lunch with him. As he opened up to me more, I learned more about him and understood why he was so bad-tempered. I could tell that he was having a hard time missing all the talking and laughing with others.

One day, a good idea hit me when I met Sam.

Shortly after Sam joined us for lunch, more students came.

There are two factors which determine an individual’s intelligence. The first is sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, some being more capable than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual — the sort of the environment in which he is brought up. If an individual is handicapped (受阻碍) environmentally, it is likely that his brain will stop to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable.

The importance of environment in determining an individual’s intelligence can be proved by the identical twins, Peter and John. When the twins were three months old, their parents died, and they were placed in separate foster (寄养) homes. Peter was reared by parents of low intelligence in an isolated community with poor educational opportunities. John, however, was educated in the home well-to-do parents who had been to college. This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were given tests to measure their intelligence. John’s IQ was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his brother.